[Footnote 2:  SHAKSPEARE:  Richard II.  Act i.  Sc. 3.]

THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES. [continued]

Luke xi. 13.—­“If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.”

In expounding the doctrine of these words, in the preceding discourse, the argument for the necessity of Divine influences had reference to the more general aspects of man’s character and condition.  We were concerned with the origin of seriousness in view of a future life, and the production of a sense of moral corruption and unfitness to enter eternity.  We have now to consider the work of the Spirit, in its relations, first, to that more distinct sense of sin which is denominated the consciousness of guilt, and secondly, to that saving act of faith by which the atonement of Christ is appropriated by the soul.

I. Sin is not man’s misfortune, but his fault; and any view that falls short of this fact is radically defective.  Sin not only brings a corruption and bondage, but also a condemnation and penalty, upon the self-will that originates it.  Sin not only renders man unfit for rewards, font also deserving of punishment.  As one who has disobeyed law of his own determination, he is liable not merely to the negative loss of blessings, but also to the positive infliction of retribution.  It is not enough that a transgressor be merely let alone; he must be taken in hand and punished.  He is not simply a diseased man; he is a criminal.  His sin, therefore, requires not a removal merely, but also an expiation.

This relation and reference of transgression to law and justice is a fundamental one; and yet it is very liable to be overlooked, or at least to be inadequately apprehended.  The sense of ill-desert is too apt to be confused and shallow, in the human soul.  Man is comparatively ready to acknowledge the misery of sin, while he is slow to confess the guilt of it.  When the word of God asserts he is poor, and blind, and wretched, he is comparatively forward to assent; but when, in addition, it asserts that he deserves to be punished everlastingly, he reluctates.  Mankind are willing to acknowledge their wretchedness, and be pitied; but they are not willing to acknowledge their guiltiness, and stand condemned before law.

And yet, guilt is the very essence of sin.  Extinguish the criminality, and you extinguish the inmost core and heart of moral evil.  We may have felt that sin is bondage, that it is inward dissension and disharmony, that it takes away the true dignity of our nature, but if we have not also felt that it is iniquity and merits penalty, we have not become conscious of its most essential quality.  It is not enough that we come before God, saying:  “I am wretched in my soul; I am weary of my bondage; I long for deliverance.”  We must also say, as we look up into that holy Eye: